Partnership in Kingdom service

(144) We do not live or work alone. We are part of the broad church of Jesus Christ throughout the centuries and around the world. At a larger scale, we are part of the Kingdom of God’s sovereign rule, at work at every level of human society and in every corner of the world.

(145) Our identity in the church and the broad Kingdom of God enables us to pursue wide-ranging and creative partnerships in service around the world. We may expect to find colleagues in Kingdom service everywhere. Wherever possible, we will advocate interrelationship, interdependence, and creative partnership in common service to the King and his wonderful cause.

A. THE CHURCH

(146) The church of Jesus Christ is the holy company of the redeemed gathered by grace and commissioned for mission. This is our home. We are part and parcel of the church of Jesus Christ around the world.

(147) The fundamental expression of this holy company is the local congregation. In the local company of believers, we are nurtured in faith, convicted of sin, assured of forgiveness, and called and equipped for mission. Our staff, missionaries and praying members will make themselves active and responsible members of a local congregation.

(148) The mission of God commands the entire church of Jesus Christ, all of its members and all of its resources. It is not our ambition to “do mission” on behalf of our congregations or the larger structures of the church. We aim instead to equip the church and its members for involvement in the mission of God, directly and in creative partnerships around the world. We hope to catalyze wider missionary vision, deeper missionary surrender, greater and more adventurous missionary service everywhere. The mission of God is the domain of every community of believers. The mission of God is why the community of believers exists.

(149) This is the goal of our service wherever we are at work around the world. We earnestly desire individual expressions of faith – and the gathering of believers into communities of faith under the Lordship of Jesus Christ. We strive for maturing communities of faith that will come to include effective structure, pastoral and teaching ministries, worship and the administration of the means of grace, a diaconate of service, orderly discipline and disciple-making outreach. We will not presume to specify such details on our own; we may entrust emerging communities of faith to the powerful word of God, as St. Paul did (Acts 20:32). We will encourage the church to develop indigenously from the beginning, emphasizing its own national character and theological stance. We will pray, and give, and work to see the church grow in faith, authenticity, surrender, and mission.

(150) Where the church does not yet exist, we will bend every effort to plant its seed. Where the church has come to exist, we will work with the church – and under its leadership wherever possible. We will describe such partnerships in written agreements when it seems helpful. Under written agreement or not, however, it is our intention to stand in solidarity with the church in its mission around the world. We love the church and will serve the church. We will not tolerate cynicism or negativity regarding the church of Jesus Christ in the world.

B. THE MISSIONS

(151) Beyond local congregations and synodical structures, the church around the world is organized in a wide array of agencies given to specialized outreach and service, like our own. Their common home in the Body of Christ binds such agencies together. We are members one of another; we will aim to walk in partnership rather than independently.

(152) When it seems helpful, we may pursue formal partnerships with like-minded agencies, describing the arrangement by written agreement approved by our Home Council. It may seem helpful to elaborate written agreements when partnering in the support and direction of specific missionaries or missionary projects, for example, taking into account lines of accountability, security considerations, provisions for pastoral care and professional development, periods of service and home assignment, and other details.

(153) More often, however, we will simply work together as opportunity presents itself. We refuse to participate in the vain pursuit of individual acclaim or the preservation of institutional or denominational advantage. We will work always toward the goal of humble and productive cooperation in the broad mission of God.

C. BEYOND CHURCH AND MISSION

(154) If Jesus our Lord is sovereign, we may expect to find him at work wherever and however he pleases. He is not bound by human formulations of spiritual and secular, heavenly and earthly, eternal and temporal, sacred and mundane, and the like. If Jesus is sovereign, he is Sovereign over all.

(155) This means that we may find our Lord at work beyond the boundaries of the visible church. We will find him at work in governments, businesses, medicine, art, our shared political and economic life – in any and every stratum of human experience. These domains represent valid opportunities for partnership in service to the Kingdom, as well.

(156) We may feel it appropriate to assign members of our fellowship to pursue opportunities such as these. Such partnerships will be described in specific and detailed agreements with governments, businesses, or other partnering agencies, upon consideration and approval of our Home Council.

(157) While our Lord Jesus may be found at work however and wherever he pleases, we are mindful that he has promised to work for our salvation through one agency alone: the word of God, convicting of sin and delivering grace. This message of law and gospel is our only unique gift to the world, and by far the most significant. We may find many opportunities for partnership and service in many domains of human society. But the only service that leads others to heaven is announcement of the Good News of Jesus Christ, the Redeemer. In every partnership and every service, whatever its domain, we will watch for opportunity to share the heavenly word of God.